Why do we do this?

I am sometimes asked this question – usually by people close to me who just don’t understand why I want to train or eat like I do, or take it to the extreme of getting stage and competing. I never feel the need to try to answer this question, because there is never an answer to convincingly explain why I do what I do.

It seems we, and I mean those of us that are pursuing general health and fitness goals and lead a healthy and fit lifestyle are viewed as different, or out of the norm. Can you think of anyone asking a person who watches tv for hours each night, why they are doing that to themselves?

We got in an unbelievable leg workout today that really pushed through the limits of anything we thought possible. I loved every minute of it including the feeling of being completely drained the rest of the day. I am sure you know that feeling too. But let’s face it – why do we do it? No one is forcing us to push ourselves the way we do, or to eat the way we do, or to even go to the gym. No one cares if we do or don’t.

But we care. We have made a commitment to ourselves and hold ourselves accountable when we miss a workout or skip out on a healthy meal. We want more for ourselves.

I find it interesting that as “health conscious” as society has supposedly become, no one thinks twice about spending hours on Facebook or in front of the tv, but we get questioned or looked at differently for living a better life and holding ourselves to a higher, healthier standard.

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe the blood is still stuck in my legs and my brain is slightly off-balance,but as I go through workouts, cardio sessions, meal preps, contest prep, and I have my days where I question why I do this- I just absolutely love the amount of self – discipline, determination, and drive it takes to do what we do. Regardless of how different our goals may be there is just something great about striving for fitness and health goals that are simply for ourselves. We do it for ourselves, because we want to, because we can, and because we have made a pact within ourselves to hold ourselves to a set of standards and we won’t let ourselves off the hook until we reach our goals.

Train hard. Make yourself accountable to yourself and keep reaching higher!